Scaffolding



j UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. DEARBORN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SCAFFOLDING.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14,764, dated April 29, 1856.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN M. DEARBORN, ofBoston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Scaffoldings or StagingsUsed in the Erection and Repair of Buildings, and that the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawingshereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of thesame, wherein I have set forth the nature and principle of my said improvement, by which my invention may be distinguished from others of asimilar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to havesecured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plates of drawings represent myimprovements.

In Plate 1, Figure 1, is a front elevation of a section of my improvedstaging. Fig. 2, is an end view of the same, showing the mode of itsconstruction when used in the interior of a building. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section of the same, taken in the plane of the line A B,Fig. 1. In Plate 2, Fig. 4, is a top view, and Fig. 5, a verticalsect-ion, taken in the plane of the line C D, Fig. l.

The stagings or scaffoldings which have heretofore been used in theerection or repairs of buildings, have consisted of timber and boards,fastened together by nails or ropes, either of which mode isobjectionable, as the ropes are liable to slip and render the staginginsecure, and those that have been fastened together by nails are somuch injured by taking them down as to prevent most of the timber frombeing used again for a similar purpose.

My improved staging is so constructed as to permit its being readilyerected or taken down at pleasure, without injuring it in the slightestdegree, no nails or ropes being used in fastening the parts together,while at the same time it is stronger than any scaffolding constructedin the usual manner.

I will now proceed to describe in detail the construction of my improvedstaging beginning with one that is to be used on the outside of abuilding.

a, a, a in the drawings represent three standards or parts, constructedas shown, of two planks, secured together at the top and bottom bymetallic hoops b, b, leaving a space between the two planks. In thisspace are placed, so as to admit of being moved freely up and down, theledgers o cc c, &c., which can be secured at any desired elevation, bymeans of bolts CZ, l which pass through the ledger and post, suitableholes being formed in the posts a, a, a at proper distances apart, asshown in the drawings. A spring key may be passed through the ends ofthe boltscl, d to confine them in their places. The posts a, a, a arerigidly held together, laterally, by means of diagonal braces e e-e e,the hooked ends of which engage with staples f, f, f driven into each ofthe three posts. These diagonal braces can be tightened or loosened atpleasure, by means of the nuts or loops g, g and screws L, 7L as willreadily be understood by inspection of the drawings. The staging is keptplumb and rigid by means of long braces or poles 21, i Fig. 5, Plate 2,the upper end of which hooks into a staple 70 near the top of the postsa, a, a, there being similar staples through the whole length of eachpost, placed at convenient intervals apart.

The lower end of the bracel or pole z' i is furnished with a spike Z,turning on a pin in the end of the pole and a knee m with nail holespunched in the same. The spike may be driven into the floor, or a timberof the building or may be secured by nails driven through the knee m, orthe knee m, may be lashed to some convenient object. As the wall to bebuilt progresses, the poles or braces i z' &c., if on the side of thestaging nearest the house, must be removed, and short boards n, placedhorizontally between each post a, a, a and the wall of the building, apin o being inserted in one end of the board n, which ent-ers one of theholes in the post a. The board is kept horizontal, by means of a shortrope 79, which is secured at one end to a staple in the top surface ofthe board n, and at the other end by means of a hook g to one of thestaples c in the upright posts a, a, a as shown in Fig. 5, Plate 2. Toincrease the height of the staging, a second section, constructedprecisely similar to the one described, is added, a tenon o, beinginserted and fastened in the top of each of the posts a, a, a, &c.,which tenon enters the bottom spaces between the planks of the posts ofthe upper section. In order to aid in keeping the staging plumb, a ropes s, Fig. 5, Pl. 2, may be secured near the top of t-he posts a, a &c.,and fastened to any convenient object within the building. The length ofthe staging can be increased, by adding another section constructed in-a similar manner, the ledges o c &c., being furnished at one end, withmetallic braces t, t into which the ends of the ledges of the nextsect-ion maybe inserted and fastened by a bolt or otherwise.

A staging to be used in the interior of a building is represented inFigs. 2 and 3, Pl. l, and F ig. 4,131. 2. This is erected by placing twoor more sections of the staging parallel to each at the desired distanceapart and connecting them together by diagonal braces precisely similarto the braces e e-c e before described, and by horizontal rods or barsu, u, placed between the two parallel sections, and secured to the upperparts o the same, by hooks, which engage with the staples of the saidposts, As an additional security for rendering the staging rigid, ropeso o, extending from one section to the other, are shown in Fig. 4, Pl.2, may be used.

I am aware that stagings have been made in which the cross ties orsupports have been made susceptible of adjustment, suitable mortisesbeing made in the upright standards into any of which the cross tiescould be fitted; but no staging has been devised, previous to myinvention, which would admit of unlimited extension both in a lateraland vertical direction. It will be seen that by constructing the uprightstandards o Y two planks with a space between them, and

fitting the ledges in the said space as described, the staging can beconstructed or extended laterally to any extent, whereas in Y thestagings that have previously been devised no extension could be madewithout duplicating the whole staging, and it is by this peculiararrangement of parts that my staging can readily be adapted to alllocali-y ties whether large or small.

Having thus described my improvements I shall state my claim as follows:

That I claim as my invention and desire to have secured to me by LettersPatent, is-

l. The improvement in the construction of movable scaflolds whichconsists first, in constructing the upright standards of two planks orboards having a space between them, in which spaces the ledgers can bemoved up or down, and secured in any Y

